This invention relates to a shovel particularly adapted for being manually used to shovel snow and other material, for example, mud, leaves, other yard debris and sawdust. The term "shovel" as used herein refers interchangeably to an implement which can be used to shovel, i.e., lift and displace, or to plow, i e., push and displace, the materials.
Manually shoveling snow and other heavy material is physically demanding. Users generally alternate between a true "shoveling" motion where a quantity of the material is displaced from a surface onto the blade, the blade is lifted and the materials thrown off of the blade, and a "plowing" motion, where the shovel is pushed along the ground, pushing the material in advance of the blade. In this motion, many times the weight that can be lifted is pushed aside. This plowing motion is therefore potentially more efficient, since more material can be moved, without the need of lifting both the shovel and the material off of the ground. This can be much less demanding on the shoulders, back and arms. However, a conventional shovel handle does not provide sufficient stability to easily and efficiently guide the shovel, particularly when the blade is pushing a large quantity of material.
Moreover, the fixed position of the blade with reference to the handle does not permit the user to shovel straight along, for example, a walk or driveway, while diverting the material off to the side in a plowing motion. The invention disclosed and claimed in this application presents a solution to these and other problems.